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Hi I built a bee vac and finely got to use it. I swear that vac is the best thing since the hive tool. I will take it to any swarm capture in the future. I had a small swarm the size of a cantalode and had them in the vac in less than five minutes. When I removed the inner box there were no dead bees. To create the vacume I used a 1 1/2 gal shop vac from walmart.To close the hole for the vac hose I used a mouse trap ans a piece of hardware cloth. I would recomend anyone who captures swarms to build, buy , borrow or steal one of these Thanks Dan

I have used one off and on for decades. But I've never had one that would suck the bees off of a comb and still not injure any. I find them useful for vicious feral hives that are being cut apart, but I've never had a need for one with a swarm.

I used mine again today. A swarm moved into a home inbetween the brick sideing and the inner wall.

They wanted to save as many as possible, however I could only get about a pound. I may have gotten the queen as they are clustered very tight.

I still kill a few, but I think that is because I probe with the hose and squish them with the end.

I, like MB, have never had a need to use a vac to catch a swarm. As long as I can reach them I will either cut off the branch or knock them into a box, cover the box, wait for them to fan the scent, they all go in, and I cart the box off to thier new home.

&gt;I, like MB, have never had a need to use a vac to catch a swarm. As long as I can reach them I will either cut off the branch or knock them into a box, cover the box, wait for them to fan the scent, they all go in, and I cart the box off to their new home.

That's what I get for saying never. I should have said "Well, it depends..."

Today I had to use the vac to get a swarm. It was on a wall, and even though I scraped most of them off with a piece of cardboard and put them in the box, they marched right out, twice.

So out came Mr. Bee Vac. This was a swarm I could not afford to lose, not just for the money I charged the company that wanted it removed, but because it completely filled a shipping cage!

I don't know how many bees you can jam into a cage, but what a bunch of bees!

Hi, Here is the mouse trap door kit. First cut a 3 x 3 inch piece of hardware cloth too fine for bees to pass through.Next take a standard spring mouse trap and lift the bar that kills the mouse. Center the screen under the bar and wire it into place. Now remove the spring bar assembly from the wood base by removing (and saving) the two staples holding it to the base. Now attach the assembly (using the two staples) to the inside of the bee-vac holding box so that it covers the hole you insert the vacuum hose into. So now when you insert the vaccuum hose through the vaccuum hole in the side of the beebox, the hardware cloth door is pushed out of the way. When you remove the hose, the hardware cloth door snaps into place, keeping all the bees in the holding box. If you have any more questions, let me know. Thanks, Dan